2016 Tomato Growing

Might put some of my clones of expensive tomatoes under lights indoors to keep them away from blight and ensure I get to save some seeds this year.

 

How is your pepper, @Linz ?

Just catching up with this thread, and those dark patches on our chillies and peppers are a thing to celebrate - as it means they are starting the process of turning red, yummy, and sweet!!

 

Was just feeding tomatoes and realised that a main stem of one of my plants was bent over and has split. I have tied the stem back in place but need to know what I should do for the best? Toms not ready yet. Help! Thanks in advance.

 

Hi, Rustler
I wouldn't worry too much about it, it happens. It seems the fruit is fully formed, so it shouldn't affect the crop.
You could bind the damaged area with something like raffia or soft string.

 

Just harvested some tomatoes. This is the biggest Black Russian I'm likely to get this year. I'm growing Black Russians from 2 sources, Thompson and Morgan and a tomato I bought in Belfast Farmers Market (which cost me £2.50!!!!) I got the labels mixed up on the seedlings and am growing 1 plant in the GH, and the others outdoors. The GH ones are opaque and the outdoor one in full fruit produces shiny fruit:

 

Oh thanks for that @Sian in Belgium they still have the dark patches, no signs of red yet but have swollen up lovely. Ta for asking.
Am bit concerned theres too many growing too close together and if it needs a final pot on. Will get a pic tomorrow

 

@Rustler I'd personally leave the damaged stem exposed to keep it dry to try to prevent it getting infected. And just makes sure the stem and tomatoes above the damaged area is supported.

 

Thanks people. Will keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

 

Potted on the gardeners' delight side shoots, all going well and plenty of root. (mother is in brown pot) Golden sunrise sideshoots.. one is quite small but nevermind, so doing this next year!

Here's mama sunrise, any tips for ripening outdoors? Will banana trick work?

100s and 1000s


And finally my pepper.. repot or is it ok? few flowers have fallen off it has been quite windy mind.
Any advice is really appreciated, ta

 

Just picked nearly 2kg of tomatoes. Here's a big teton de Venus, not yet ripe all over but seemed about to fall off:

Somewhat larger than the fruit on my waste-of-space Gigantomos! Not growing them next year.

 

Have you restricted the fruits to 1 per truss and only 2 fruits per plant? May seem like a huge waste, but the only way to get big Gigantomos.

Serious big veg growers going for the VM/TM competition grew loads of plants in order to get a megabloom (fused blossom) to produce a multi-lobed fruit that's heavier than standard fruits.

Whilst most beefsteak toms have 1 megabloom per truss, or a few per plant, unfortunately I've found a very low incidence of megablooms with this variety and they are essential to get a decent sized tomato.

 

All my gigantomo seeds germinated in early Feb and I kept the strongest 2 plants. They produced lots of mega blooms early on, most of which I removed as I wanted the plants as big and strong as possible. The plants are super-chunky, occupying the best spots in the GH but showing signs of magnesium deficiency. Most of the flowers by this time were single or plain double megablooms. The others have extra nobbly bits on the developing fruit or spots that start to ripen early. I've pulled one plant up completely and chucked it in the green bin. The other I've left two fruit on, one of which is ripening irregularly while parts of it are still growing. In the meantime, other plants in the greenhouse that I wasn't intending to grow bit fruit on (they are being grown as tasty toms, and have removed the largest of the megablooms off them), are cropping heavily and have produced even larger fruit than the lazy remaining gigantomo will. I reckon I can find better things to fill my GH space with.

 

The winner of the 2015 heaviest Gigantomo competition grew 22 plants.